A toolkit approach to sketched diagram recognition

Sketch-based tools provide a more human centered design environment than traditional widget-based computer design software. A number of sketch tools exist that support specific design tasks: however wider exploration of computer supported sketching is being hampered by the effort required to build the sketching software. Here we present a sketch tool framework, its implementation and evaluation. The implementation, InkKit, provides context free design spaces and a powerful, trainable and extensible modeless writing/drawing recognition engine. It reduces the development effort for a specific diagram type from thousands of lines of code to a few hundred. We evaluated our toolkit by asking fourth year computer science students to use InkKit to develop a diagram specific recognizer. Categories and Subject Descriptors H.5.2 [Information Interfaces and Presentation (e.g., HCI)]: User Interfaces - graphical user interfaces. General Terms Design, Human Factors. Keywords Sketch tools, hand-dra...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2007
• Where: BCSHCI
• Authors: Beryl Plimmer, Isaac Freeman
• Keywords: BCSHCI 2007, Human Computer Interaction, Sketch Tool Framework, Sketch Tools, Specific Design Tasks